Wednesday, March 5, 2025
AUBURN, Ind. — After presenting the Citizen of the Year award during Tuesday night’s Auburn Common Council meeting Mayor Dave Clark took a minute to recognize another individual who has made a difference in Auburn and DeKalb County.
Auburn resident Dick Shankle was honored for his dedication to the Auburn Waterloo Trail Committee. Shankle served as president of the committee for 15 years before stepping down at the committee’s February meeting.
It was during that meeting he said, “it is time to let someone else lead the committee.”
“I would like to thank all the supporters of the trail who have enabled this committee to renovate Metzger Park with picnic tables, a pavilion, and the replacement of crumbling and cracked concrete from 1973-74,” Shankle said.
The Auburn Waterloo Trail, constructed in 1973, is known as the state’s first rail/trail project. Today the trail which connects Auburn and Waterloo is a segment of the Poka-Bache Trail. Once completed the Poka-Bache Trail will connect Pokagon State Park in Angola to Ouabache State Park in Bluffton.
Recent improvements to the Auburn Waterloo Trail included the trail widening project completed in 2024. The project widened the trail from five-feet to 10-feet. This project was made possible through a Next Level Trails grant.
Shankle is also an original member of the Auburn Community Band, which he is still a member of.
Mike Payne, was tapped as the new president of the committee.
The trail has an endowment fund at the Community Foundation DeKalb County, which provides funding for future improvements and maintenance.
The committee is made up of local residents.